Methods and systems of providing status message calling

ABSTRACT

In an embodiment, a method of providing a status message may include receiving, from a mobile device one or more status messages, wherein each status message corresponds to one or more contacts in an address book, storing the status messages and corresponding one or more contacts, transmitting one of the status messages to a mobile device associated with one of the one or more contacts, wherein the status message is displayed on the associated mobile device and integrating the status message into an address book associated with the contact.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(c) to U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/883,841, filed Jan. 8, 2007, U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/884,045 filed Jan. 9, 2007, U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/889,305, filed Feb. 12, 2007, U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/889,959, filed Feb. 15, 2007, U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/896,003, filed Mar. 21, 2007, U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/908,726, filed Mar. 29, 2007, U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/940,758, filed May 30, 2007, U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/942,557, filed Jun. 7, 2007, U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/945,931, filed Jun. 24, 2007, and U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/947,963, filed Jul. 4, 2007, theentireties of which are incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

As the mobile telecommunication industry grows, mobile subscribers arebecoming increasingly more aware of their leverage in the market. Theycarefully compare service providers and call plans, and make educatedchoices before subscribing to a carrier and a service. Subscribers alsocontinuously seek new and improved features to integrate into theirmobile service such as enhanced chat, long distance service options,customized graphical user interfaces and the like.

Despite being informed consumers, mobile subscribers are oftendisadvantaged in the mobile market. For example, although a subscribermay be knowledgeable about their own calling plan subscription,subscribers are usually unaware of the cost per minute of a call to thecalling destination. This puts a mobile subscriber at a disadvantage inmaking educated and economical calling choices.

Mobile subscribers would also welcome more long distance serviceoptions. A subscriber to a telecommunication carrier service typicallyneeds a local access number to utilize the service. This usuallyinvolves selecting a number from a list of regional or area numbers,such as a preprinted list on a calling card, to find the access numberclosest to the subscriber's current location. The subscriber dials thelocal access number and is usually connected to a long distance serviceprovider via a telephony network. Typically, the subscriber can thenenter a target long distance telephone number, and the long distanceservice provider will route the call to a subscriber-specified number.The current approach has many disadvantages, however, such as having topurchase a phone care and locating a local access number. In addition, asubscriber who accidentally places a call using a non-local accessnumber may incur long distance charges.

It is common for a subscriber to experience a significant delay afterpowering on his mobile device before he is able to access updatedcontact information in his address book. This is because the mobiledevice must contact and retrieve an updated contact list from a server.As such subscribers may desire to access his address book while thecontact information is being updated.

To keep pace with the constant evolution of mobile telephony, mobilesubscribers are treated to a variety of applications designed tooptimize their mobile communication experience. For example, subscriberscan access the Internet with the mobile device, send chat messages totheir contacts and the like. Subscribers can glean relevant andup-to-date information about their contacts in their address books byviewing presence-statuses, away messages, sometimes referred to asstatus messages, mood messages or the like. However, it is common for asubscriber's status message to read the same regardless of which contactviews it. As such a subscriber cannot customize his status message basedon the contact who is viewing it.

SUMMARY

Before the present methods are described, it is to be understood thatthis invention is not limited to the particular systems, methodologiesor protocols described, as these may vary. It is also to be understoodthat the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describingparticular embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope ofthe present disclosure which will be limited only by the appendedclaims.

In an embodiment, a method of providing a status message may includereceiving, from a mobile device, one or more status messages, whereineach status message corresponds to one or more contacts in an addressbook, storing the status messages and corresponding one or morecontacts, transmitting one of the status messages to a mobile deviceassociated with one of the one or more contacts, wherein the statusmessage is displayed on the associated mobile device and integrating thestatus message into an address book associated with the contact.

In an embodiment, a method of providing contact information on a mobiledevice may include generating a list of a predefined number ofmost-recently called contacts from an address book on a subscriber'smobile device and for each most-recently called contact, receivingcontact information, comprising one or more of a contact name, atelephone number, a mood message, a holographic message, and a statusmessage. The method may also include transmitting the list, associatedcontact information and one or more instructions to the subscriber'smobile device, wherein the one or more instructions instruct the mobiledevice to display the list and associated contact information.

In an embodiment, a system of providing a status message may include asubscriber mobile device comprising an address book having one or morecontacts, a processor for processing data relating to one or more statusmessages, wherein the processor is in communication with the subscribermobile device and one or more contact mobile devices associated with oneor more contacts in the address book, wherein each contact mobile deviceis in communication with the processor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts a flow chart for implementing an exemplary call-costfeature on a mobile device.

FIG. 2 depicts a mobile device display of exemplary cost informationaccording to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 depicts an exemplary system of providing cost informationaccording to an embodiment.

FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary system of providing cost informationaccording to an embodiment.

FIG. 5 illustrates flow chart for assigning an exemplary local accessnumber according to an embodiment.

FIG. 6 illustrates a method of placing an exemplary long distance callusing a local access number according to an embodiment.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flow chart for an exemplary method of accessingcontact information on a subscriber's mobile device according to anembodiment.

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary system for implementing mobile addressbook interaction according to an embodiment.

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary method of providing contact informationaccording to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates a flow chart for implementing an exemplary call-costfeature on a mobile device. A mobile device may include mobile orportable devices such as cellular phones, PDAs, media players or thelike. A mobile device may have a processor and a processor-readablestorage medium in communication with the processor.

As illustrated by FIG. 1, a price table database may receive 100 costinformation from a price feed. A price feed provides real time pricinginformation for a product or service. For example, stock prices may beavailable to an online trader via a price feed.

In an embodiment, the price table database may be housed on a computingdevice, such as a server, and the cost information may include the costper minute for a plurality of calling destinations or the like. Table 1illustrates an exemplary price table database according to anembodiment.

TABLE 1 Calling Destination Cost per minute Canada $0.33/minute France$0.56/minute Israel $0.35/minute United States $0.15/minute

The price table database may receive 100 cost information from the pricefeed on a regular basis. In an embodiment, the price feed may include arate sheet provided by a telephone service provider.

In an embodiment, at least a portion of the received cost informationmay be stored 105 is the price table database. For example, the pricetable database may receive a cost-per-minute for calling Canada. If theprice table database does not currently include a cost-per-minute forCanada, the cost information may be added to the price table database.If the price table database includes a different cost-per-minute forCanada, the stored cost information may be replaced with the costinformation from the price feed. In an embodiment, if the received costinformation associated with a calling destination is less than thestored cost information associated with the calling destination, analert may be generated. The alert may be used to notify a subscriber ofthe price discount associated with the particular calling destination.In an embodiment, the server may transmit the alert to a subscriber'smobile device to notify the subscriber of the price discount.

A mapper may use the cost information contained in the price tabledatabase to map 110 cost information to one or more phone numbers in asubscriber's address book. In an embodiment, the mapper may utilizepre-defined rules to map 110 cost information to a contact number. Acontact is an entry in an address book that is accessible by a mobiledevice. A contact number is a mobile device number associated with acontact. In an embodiment, the mapper may map 110 cost information toone or more contact numbers using pre-defined rules. The pre-definedrules may be used to determine, for example, a calling destination,whether the phone number belongs to a landline or a mobile device, orthe like. For example, in Israel, landlines are provisioned with thecountry code +972 followed by an area code ranging from ‘1’ to ‘9’, withthe exception of ‘5.’ Mobile phone numbers typically begin with ‘5.’ Ifa subscriber has the phone number “972-2-5388-0234” in his address book,the mapper may use one or more pre-defined rules to determine thecontact number is a landline number is Israel. The mapper may use thisinformation to map the corresponding cost per minute to one or morecontact numbers in a subscriber's address book.

In an embodiment, the mapped cost information may be transmitted to thesubscriber's mobile device for display to the subscriber. FIG. 2 depictsa mobile phone display of exemplary cost information according to anembodiment. As illustrated, the cost to call one or more contacts in asubscriber's address book may be displayed. For example, calling Jim onhis mobile phone costs $0.0136/minute 200, whereas calling Jim on hislandline phone costs $0.017/minute 205. The subscriber may use thisinformation to make an informed calling decision regarding which numberto call.

In an embodiment, cost information may be provided based on associatedcalling plans. As illustrated by FIG. 3, the price table database mayinclude cost information such as mobile providers' calling plans 300, acost-per-minute value 305 associated with the calling plans, a dialingprefix 310 provisioned for each calling plan and/or the like. In anembodiment, the price table database may receive this cost informationfrom the price feed on a regularly updated basis.

In an embodiment, the mapper may map a contact's number with thesubscriber's calling plan and the corresponding cost information may bedisplayed to a subscriber. One or more contacts in a subscriber'saddress book may be displayed with cost information based on thesubscriber's and/or the contact's calling plan. For example, FIG. 3illustrates exemplary information that may be displayed on a mobiledevice. A contact's number 315 may be listed with a cost-per-minutevalue 320 and a calling plan 325 associated with the number 315.

In an embodiment, the mapper may use a contact's phone number todetermine calling destination information such as a contact's locale,whether the contact's number corresponds to a landline or a mobile phoneor the like. After calling destination information is determined, themapper may map at least a portion of the calling destination informationto the subscriber's calling plan. For example, a subscriber may want tocall a contact who has two numbers. The first number may be a landlinein Israel while the second number may be a mobile phone in Israel. Themapper may match the subscriber's calling plan with the destinationinformation to determine that cost information associated with callingthe two numbers.

In an embodiment, multiple service providers may be used to place acall. In such an embodiment, the mapper may map cost informationassociated with all necessary providers so that a combined price may bedisplayed to a subscriber. For example, if a subscriber calls anoverseas contact using a long-distance service provider, thecost-per-minute may reflect both the long distance provider's charges aswell as the local mobile carrier's airtime charges.

FIG. 4 depicts an environment suitable for practicing the illustrativeembodiments. A processor, such as a server 400 may include a mapper 405and/or a price table database 410. The server 400 may be incommunication with a price feed 415 and one or more mobile devices 420via a network 425. The server 400 may be implemented on a stand-alonecomputer system or may be implemented by distributed components such asseparate electronic devices.

In an embodiment, a subscriber may use a local access number to place along distance call. A local access number is a local telephone number asubscriber may employ to connect to a certain long distance serviceprovider. FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary flow chart of a method forassigning a local access number according to an embodiment. Asubscriber's locale information may be received 500 by a server. In anembodiment, a subscriber may use a mobile device to subscribe to atelecommunication service via a data line. For example, a subscriber mayaccess a browser to transmit an HTTP request. Upon registration, asubscriber may provide locale information such as an area code and atelephone number, a zip code or the like corresponding to thesubscriber's current location. The locale information may becommunicated to a server.

In another embodiment, locale information may be automatically received500 by a server. For example, the locale information may be transmittedvia an HTTP browser to a server where it may be processed by a servicedelivery framework (SDF). The SDF may be aware of the subscriber localeinformation, such as a Mobile Systems International Subscriber IdentityNumber (MSISDN), and may insert such information into an HTTP header.The header may be transmitted to the server where the mapper may extractthe locale information.

In an embodiment, the mapper may map 510 the locale information to adatabase of available access numbers. A local access number may beidentified 520 based on the subscriber's current location and theidentified local access number may be transmitted 530 to thesubscriber's mobile device.

In an embodiment, the mapper may generate a list of long distanceservice providers having local access numbers corresponding to thesubscriber's locale. The server may transmit the list via a data line tothe subscriber's mobile device. The subscriber may select a longdistance service provider, and may receive the corresponding localaccess number on his mobile device.

In an embodiment, the subscriber may use the local access number toconnect to a chosen long distance service provider. The subscriber maymanually input the local access number, followed by the desiredlong-distance phone number. Alternatively, the subscriber may employ anapplication such as an address book, to automate this process. Forexample, a mobile device's address book may include a long-distanceautomatic dialing feature that allows for quick-dialing of a previouslyentered local access code.

In an embodiment, an existing address book may be populated with thelocal access number for future retrieval. In an embodiment, as asubscriber travels, his mobile device may receive and store new localaccess numbers based on his current location.

FIG. 6 illustrates a method of placing a long distance call using alocal access number according to an embodiment. For example, subscriberwho wants to make a third-party long distance call may register 600 fora long distance service using a browser on his mobile device. Uponregistration, the subscriber may be asked to provide 605 localeinformation, such as a local telephone number with an area code. Thelocale information may be processed 610 by the server, and thesubscriber may receive 615 a list of one or more long distance serviceproviders. The subscriber may select 620 a long distance serviceprovider and may receive 625 a local access number based on the selectedlong distance provider on his mobile device. The subscriber may employthe local access number for as long as he remains in his currentlocation. If the subscriber's address book is equipped with a longdistance auto-dial feature, it may be automatically populated with thelocal access number when the server transmits it to the mobile device.If the subscriber changes locations, he may access his account on thesubscription site, enter a new telephone number and area code, andreceive a new local access number. The subscriber's old access numbermay be stored for later use.

In an embodiment, a local access number may be automatically dialed forthe subscriber, and may or may not require subscriber confirmation. Assuch, the subscriber may only need to specify the preferred longdistance number to call. For example, a subscriber may select or inputthe preferred long distance number to call, and an application on themobile device may place the call by automatically dialing the accesscode local to the subscriber's local information. As described above,the locale information may be ascertained based on the telephone numberprovided by the subscriber at sign-up or by extracting the subscriberlocale information from an HTTP header.

For example, a mobile user who wants to place a long distance call mayselect a contact from his address book to call. The subscriber's longdistance subscription service may ascertain the subscriber's location byextracting locale information from an HTTP header transmitted by thesubscriber's phone or by the locale information the subscriber providedat sign-up. The server may map the subscriber's location to anappropriate local access number which may be sent to the subscriber'smobile device. The subscriber may make one or more selections to dialthe received local access number. Alternatively, the service mayauto-dial the local access number and connect the call without thesubscriber being aware that a local access number has been dialed.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flow chart for an exemplary method of accessingcontact information on a subscriber's mobile device according to anembodiment. When a subscriber first accesses a server-based mobileaddress book application, the subscriber may experience a significantdelay while the address book attempts to retrieve the subscriber'saddress book from the server. In an embodiment, a cache of the addressbook may be created 700 before the subscriber's mobile device is poweredoff. The cache may include contact information stored in thesubscriber's address book during the last application session. Forexample, the cache may include a contact's name, one or more telephonenumbers associated with the contact, a status message associated withthe contact and/or the like.

In an embodiment, a status message indicates whether the contact isonline, offline or the like. A status message includes informationrelating to a status or state of a subscriber, and can be presentedautomatically to anyone who attempts to contact the subscriber. Thestatus message may provide further information regarding the subscriber.In an embodiment, exemplary status messages may include “Having a badday,” “In a meeting,” “At the gym” or the like.

In an embodiment, the cache may be stored 710 on the subscriber's mobiledevice. When a subscriber powers on his mobile device, at least aportion of the cache may be displayed 720 to a subscriber until a freshupload of contact information can be obtained from the server. Forexample, when a subscriber accesses an address book application afterpowering on his mobile device, the subscriber may be presented with acached version of his address book that may include contacts' names,telephone numbers, status message and/or the like which were stored inthe cache prior to the mobile device being powered off.

In an embodiment, because the server may take a significant amount oftime to upload a complete fresh address book, contacts may be updated ina particular order according to an embodiment. For example, the firstseveral contacts that appear in a subscriber's mobile device display mayhave their information updated first. Alternatively, priority may begiven to one or more pre-determined contacts.

A problem may arise when a subscriber attempts to call a contact'stelephone number using a cached address book. In an embodiment, thecached information may include a contact identification numberassociated with a contact and/or a unique session identification number.A contact identification number is a unique identifier associated with acertain contact in an address book. A session identification number is aunique identifier associated with a calling period. The unique sessionidentification number may remain valid for the length of an entirecalling period, which, in an embodiment, may be the period of time fromwhen the application is powered up and connected until the time that theapplication is powered down. A contact identification number may beassigned to each contact, and may remain valid for the duration of acalling period. In an embodiment, the unique session identificationnumber and the contact identification numbers may expire after thecalling period has closed, thus rendering them invalid for subsequentcalling sessions. As such when a subscriber attempts to call a contactwith stale status information, the application may attempt to dial inwith an expired session identification number and/or reference anexpired contact identification number, which may result in call failure.While a delay may exist while the server refreshes and updates asubscriber's contact information, a service provider may want to give asubscriber a feeling of being logged onto the network as soon as thesubscriber's mobile device is powered on.

For example, in an embodiment, if a subscriber selects a contact fromthe cached address book having expired status information, the contact'sphone number may not be immediately dialed. Instead, the subscriber'smobile device may dial a server and may dispatch the name of the desiredcallee across a network. The server may send back a sessionidentification number to be utilized during the calling period and/or acontact information number that references the callee. In an embodiment,the server may also send a local access number to be used to contact thecallee. Alternatively, the call may be completed without the use of alocal access number.

In an embodiment, if a subscriber selects a contact from the cachedcontact list having stale status information, a prepare call may be sentto the server. The prepare call may include a session identificationnumber, a callee's contact identification number, a callee's contactname and the like. The server may send back a new session identificationnumber for the subscriber, a contact information number that referencesthe callee, a local access number to be used to contact the calleeand/or the like.

In an embodiment, if a subscriber selects a contact from the cachedcontact list having stale status information, a direct inward dialing(DID) number of the callee may be directly dialed, and the dual-tonemulti-frequency (DTMF) tones of the caller may be appended to adial-string associated with the call. A DID number is a feature offeredby telephone companies for use with customer's private branch exchange.A telephone company may allocate a range of numbers all connected to thecustomers' PBX. As the PBX receives calls, the number that the callerdialed may also be presented so the PBX can route the call to the targetcallee. For example, DID numbers may be obtained by administrators of aVoIP network and assigned to a gateway in the network. The gateway mayroute incoming calls from the network to appropriate VoIP subscribers.

In an embodiment, a set of DIDs may be assigned to a gateway. Thegateway may then reassign the DIDs to a particular mapping ofcaller-callee. For example, Caller A may have ten contacts, A-K. Eachcontact may be assigned a unique DID number. When Caller A selects acontact from his cached contact list, Caller A is, in effect, selectingthe DID number associated with the contact.

In an embodiment, if a subscriber selects a contact from the cachedcontact list having expired status information, a callee's DID numbermay be directly dialed, and the DID number and the identification numberof the caller may appear within the dial-string.

In an embodiment, a subscriber may use an address book on thesubscriber's mobile device to call one or more contacts stored in theaddress book. The subscriber may communicate with these contacts bydialing the contact directly, by sending chat messages or the like. FIG.8 illustrates an exemplary system for implementing mobile address bookinteraction according to an embodiment. In addition to being storedlocally on a mobile device 800, the contact information in asubscriber's address book 805 may also be cached on a server 810 whichmay regularly update the address book information. The server may sendinformation about the subscriber's contacts to the subscriber's mobiledevice 800 as it become available. In an embodiment, the subscriber'smobile device 800 may poll the server at specified intervals to receiveupdates about the subscriber's contacts. Updated information may beintegrated into the subscriber's mobile address book 805 for thesubscriber to access. In an embodiment, contact information may includea status message or the like.

As FIG. 8 illustrates, bi-directional communication 815 may existbetween the server, the subscriber's mobile device and the contacts 820who appear in the subscriber's address book. In an embodiment, theserver may push information, such as a status message associated withthe subscriber, to the contacts 820. The server may also pullinformation from the contacts 820 for transmission to the subscriber'smobile device.

For example, if the subscriber wishes to change his status message, thesubscriber may set a new status message using his mobile device. The newstatus message may then be sent to the server to be propagated to thesubscriber's contacts. When the server receives and processes the newstatus message, the server may send the new status message to all of thesubscriber's contacts.

FIG. 9 illustrates a method of providing contact information accordingto an embodiment. A server may receive 900 one or more status messages,such as a holographic message, from a subscriber's mobile device. Aholographic message relates to customized messages that differ based onwhich contact inquires about the subscriber's status. That is, differentcontacts may be presented with different messages depending on theidentity of the contact. The present discussion is intended tocomprehend a one-to-one correspondence between messages and contacts,but is not so limited, and also includes messages directed to subsets ofmore than one contact. For example, a subscriber's holographic messagemay read “I'm in a meeting” to work colleagues, but may read “I'munavailable” to all other contacts.

In an embodiment, a subscriber may set a holographic message using thesubscriber's mobile phone. The subscriber may identify a message for aspecific contact. For example, a subscriber may set a holographicmessage that reads “I'll be home at 6:30 pm” to his wife. The subscribermay also set a holographic message for a specific contact group. Forexample, a subscriber may set a holographic message that reads “At thebeach” to his friends.

In an embodiment, the holographic messages set by a subscriber may besent to the server to be transmitted to the contacts in the subscriber'scontact book. The server may store 910 a holographic message andcorresponding contact or contact group. The server may transmit 920 theholographic message to the mobile phones of the appropriate contactsbased on the contact's name, the contact's group or the like. In anembodiment, the server may integrate 930 the holographic message into anaddress book associated with a contact. The server may transmit one ormore instructions to a contact's mobile device instructing the mobiledevice to display the holographic message.

In an embodiment, a list of most-recently called contacts may be kept.For example, the list may reflect the last ten contacts a subscribercalled, chatted with, changed a status message for, or the like.Typically, a subscriber's address book is stored on a server, and a pushpresence technique is utilized to access contact information, such as astatus message or the like. In an embodiment, the push presencetechnique requires a subscriber to retrieve the latest contactinformation from the server. However, a subscriber who as many contactsmust access the server numerous times in order to view contactinformation which may drain the battery of the subscriber's mobiledevice. As such, a list of most-recently called contacts may be kept.This list may be stored on a subscriber's mobile device or on theserver. If the list is stored on the server, the server must only pushthe contact information associated with the contacts in themost-recently called list instead of the contact information for everycontact in the subscriber's address book.

It will be appreciated that various of the above-disclosed and otherfeatures and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be desirablycombined into many other different systems or applications. Also thatvarious presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives,modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequentlymade by those skilled in the art which are also intended to beencompassed by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of providing a status message, themethod comprising; receiving, from a first mobile device, a set of oneor more status messages, wherein each status message in the set isassociated with a subset of contacts in a first address book of asubscriber associated with the first mobile device; determining a firststatus message from the set that is associated with a first contact fromthe first address book; responsive to the determination, transmittingthe first status message to a second mobile device for presentation tothe first contact; maintaining a list of a subset of contacts from thefirst address book for which the first mobile device most recentlychanged an associated status message; and transmitting contactinformation of the subset of contacts to the first mobile device insteadof transmitting contact information for each contact in the firstaddress book to the first mobile device.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the first contact belongs to a first subset of contacts in thefirst address book corresponding to a contact group, and wherein thetransmitting transmits the first status message to each mobile deviceassociated with the first subset of contacts.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the first status message is configured to be integrated into asecond address book of the first contact on the second mobile device. 4.A method of providing contact information on a mobile device, the methodcomprising: generating a list of a subset of most recently calledcontacts made by a subscriber's mobile device from a server-based mobileaddress book; determining contact information for each most recentlycalled contact, the contact information including one or more of acontact name, a telephone number, a mood message, a holographic message,or a status message; and transmitting, to the subscriber's mobiledevice, the list, the associated contact information, and one or moreinstructions configured to instruct the subscriber's mobile device todisplay the list and the associated contact information.
 5. The methodof claim 4, wherein the transmitting transmits the list of the subset ofmost recently called contacts instead of transmitting an entirety ofcontacts within the server-based mobile address book to the subscriber'smobile device to facilitate a quicker download of the list of the subsetof most recently called contacts to the subscriber's mobile device.
 6. Amethod of providing a status message, the method comprising; generating,at a mobile device, a set of one or more status messages, wherein eachstatus message in the set is associated with a subset of contacts in anaddress book of a subscriber associated with the mobile device;transmitting the set of one or more status messages to a server forselective transmission of status messages by the server to respectivesubsets of contacts in the address book; changing a given status messageassociated with at least one contact in the address book, wherein theserver maintains a list of a subset of contacts from the address bookfor which the subscriber most recently changed an associated statusmessage; and receiving contact information of the subset of contactsfrom the server instead of receiving contact information for eachcontact in the address book from the server.
 7. A server configured toselectively provide status messages, comprising; means for receiving,from a first mobile device, a set of one or more status messages,wherein each status message in the set is associated with a subset ofcontacts in an address book of a subscriber associated with the firstmobile device; means for determining a first status message from the setof one or more status messages that is associated with a first contactfrom the address book; means for, responsive to the determination,transmitting the first status message to a second mobile device forpresentation to the first contact; means for maintaining a list of asubset of contacts from the address book for which the first mobiledevice most recently changed an associated status message; and means fortransmitting contact information of the subset of contacts to the firstmobile device instead of transmitting contact information for eachcontact in the address book to the first mobile device.
 8. A serverconfigured to provide contact information, comprising: means forgenerating a list of a subset of most recently called contacts made by asubscriber's mobile device from a server-based mobile address book;means for determining contact information for each most recently calledcontact, the contact information including one or more of a contactname, a telephone number, a mood message, a holographic message, or astatus message; and means for transmitting, to the subscriber's mobiledevice, the list, the associated contact information, and one or moreinstructions configured to instruct the subscriber's mobile device todisplay the list and the associated contact information.
 9. A mobiledevice configured to provide status messages, comprising: means forgenerating a set of one or more status messages, wherein each statusmessage in the set is associated with a subset of contacts in an addressbook of a subscriber associated with the mobile device; means fortransmitting the set of one or more status messages to a server forselective transmission of respective status messages by the server torespective subsets of contacts in the address book of the subscriber;means for changing a given status message associated with at least onecontact in the address book, wherein the server maintains a list of asubset of contacts from the address book for which the subscriber mostrecently changed an associated status message; and means for receivingcontact information of the subset of contacts from the server instead ofreceiving contact information for each contact in the address book fromthe server.
 10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumcontaining instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a serverconfigured to selectively provide status messages, cause the server toperform operations, the instructions comprising: program code toreceive, from a first mobile device, a set of one or more statusmessages, wherein each status message in the set is associated with asubset of contacts in an address book of a subscriber associated withthe first mobile device; program code to determine a first statusmessage from the set of one or more status messages that is associatedwith a first contact from the address book; program code to, responsiveto the determination, transmit the first status message to a secondmobile device for presentation to the first contact; program code tomaintain a list of a subset of contacts from the address book for whichthe first mobile device most recently changed an associated statusmessage; and program code to transmit contact information of the subsetof contacts to the first mobile device instead of transmitting contactinformation for each contact in the address book to the first mobiledevice.
 11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containinginstructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a server configuredto provide contact information, cause the server to perform operations,the instructions comprising: program code to generate a list of a subsetof most recently called contacts made by a subscriber's mobile devicefrom a server-based mobile address book; program code to determinecontact information for each most recently called contact, the contactinformation including one or more of a contact name, a telephone number,a mood message, a holographic message, or a status message; and programcode to transmit, to the subscriber's mobile device, the list, theassociated contact information, and one or more instructions configuredto instruct the subscriber's mobile device to display the list and theassociated contact information.
 12. A non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium containing instructions stored thereon, which, whenexecuted by a mobile device configured to provide status messages, causethe mobile device to perform operations, the instructions comprising:program code to generate a set of one or more status messages, whereineach status message in the set is associated with a subset of contactsin an address book of a subscriber associated with the mobile device;program code to transmit the set of one or more status messages to aserver for selective transmission of respective status messages by theserver to respective subsets of contacts in the address book of thesubscriber; program code to change a given status message associatedwith at least one contact in the address book, wherein the servermaintains a list of a subset of contacts from the address book for whichthe subscriber most recently changed an associated status message; andprogram code to receive contact information of the subset of contactsfrom the server instead of receiving contact information for eachcontact in the address book from the server.
 13. A server configured toselectively provide status messages, comprising: a memory; and aprocessor configured to: receive, from a first mobile device, a set ofone or more status messages, wherein each status message in the set isassociated with a subset of contacts in an address book of a subscriberassociated with the first mobile device; determine a first statusmessage from the set of one or more status messages that is associatedwith a first contact from the address book; responsive to thedetermination, transmitting the first status message to a second mobiledevice for presentation to the first contact; maintain a list of asubset of contacts from the address book for which the first mobiledevice most recently changed an associated status message; and transmitcontact information of the subset of contacts to the first mobile deviceinstead of transmitting contact information for each contact in theaddress book to the first mobile device.
 14. A server configured toprovide contact information, comprising: a memory; and a processorconfigured to: generate a list of a subset of most recently calledcontacts made by a subscriber's mobile device from a server-based mobileaddress book; determine contact information for each most recentlycalled contact, the contact information including one or more of acontact name, a telephone number, a mood message, a holographic message,or a status message; and transmit, to the subscriber's mobile device,the list, the associated contact information, and one or moreinstructions configured to instruct the subscriber's mobile device todisplay the list and the associated contact information.
 15. A mobiledevice configured to provide status messages, comprising: a memory; anda processor configured to: generate a set of one or more statusmessages, wherein each status message in the set is associated with asubset of contacts in an address book of a subscriber associated withthe mobile device; transmit the set of one or more status messages to aserver for selective transmission of respective status messages by theserver to respective subsets of contacts in the address book of thesubscriber; change a given status message associated with at least onecontact in the address book, wherein the server maintains a list of asubset of contacts from the address book for which the subscriber mostrecently changed an associated status message; and receive contactinformation of the subset of contacts from the server instead ofreceiving contact information for each contact in the address book fromthe server.